Pages

July 19, 2018

Impossible 5-Ingredient Chocolate Cake

An impossibly moist, fudgy, decadent chocolate bundt cake recipe made with just five ingredients.

This post may include affiliate links to items I personally use or think might be useful to you. If you purchase the item, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

I’ve mentioned them before, but we have two families that we spend a lot of time with. All of us adults are great buddies and our kids LOVE hanging out with each other. We’ve all sort of become family to each other over the years and it’s great because none of us has much family in the area.

I grew up spending every free weekend with my aunts, uncles and cousins so it’s nice to have created something similar for my kids. It’s also nice spending time with other couples who are a lot like Husband and me in that we do almost everything together, with our kids in tow.

Anyway, we got together one night to celebrate a birthday and my friend, Amanda, had made a chocolate cake for the birthday girl. I’d gotten my belly full of supper and had a few cold beers in me so I wasn’t too interested in eating any cake.

Until I saw it.

It was a perfect chocolate bundt cake that looked so rich and fudgy and moist I HAD to try it! Especially after listening to the kids rave about how good it was.

And, oh my goodness, was it ever delicious! This cake doesn’t need any frosting at all! I spooned a little melted icing and chocolate chips on the one pictured here because I wanted it to be extra beautiful for y’all but it really doesn’t need anything extra.

This cake is sorta like a mix between a brownie and a cake. It's thick and fudgy and just BEGS to be eaten with a cold glass of milk or a hot cup of coffee!

Amanda told me it is a recipe she’s been making for years that uses a cake mix, pudding mix, and chocolate chips. She said she uses it with all sorts of other flavors too (I’ll list some below).

I wanted to make Amanda’s cake and thought I remembered the ingredients (I remember her saying it’s ONE of everything) but when I ticked them off to myself it didn’t seem right...

One box of cake mix, one box of pudding mix, one big carton of sour cream, one egg and one bag of chocolate chips...

So I shot her a text and she confirmed I had it all right. She told me the batter would be thick – like PlayDoh – and that you’ll think to yourself that it doesn’t seem right (um, yep, that’s exactly what I thought!).

I mixed it up, popped it in the oven and the cake was just as delicious as I remembered! I've made this twice since the first time and can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing.

Don't let the sour cream throw you off. I wasn't scared of it because I LOVE desserts with sour cream and chocolate. I've had a few sour cream chocolate cakes over the years that were sinfully delicious so I knew the sour cream would be perfect with all the sweet chocolate.

Don't you love my old bundt pan? I got it at the flea market eons ago and I reach for it over my fancy-pants pans every time!

This is my new go-to recipe for any easy, no-fuss cake! Here are some of the flavor variations Amanda told me she’s tried (plus a few I think sound delicious!)

UPDATE: I've just added this list of variations to the printable recipe card per a reader suggestion!

This is what the batter will look like - don't let it scare you! It will cook up perfectly!

Since Amanda’s cake didn’t have a name and the word that kept coming to mind when I was mixing it up was impossible, that’s what I’m calling this cake!

It seems impossible that these ingredients would make such a moist, rich cake - but they do! And it seems impossible to make something so incredibly decadent and delicious with just 5 ingredients - but you can!

Impossible 5-Ingredient Chocolate Cake

Yield: 8-10 Servings

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

prep time: 10 Mcook time: 45 Mtotal time: 55 M

ingredients:

1 16-oz. carton sour cream

1 egg

1 chocolate cake mix

1 box instant chocolate pudding mix

1 bag chocolate chips (see notes)

instructions:

How to cook Impossible 5-Ingredient Chocolate Cake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan well (I use the cooking spray with the flour in it) then set aside.

Combine sour cream and egg in a large bowl or stand-mixer (fitted with paddle attachment) then stir or blend until combined. Add cake mix and pudding mix then stir or blend until mixed well. Stir or blend in chocolate chips (reserving 1/3 cup for garnish if desired) until evenly combined.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 30 minutes then invert onto a serving plate to finish cooling.

Garnish with powdered sugar if desired. Cover and store at room temperature.

NOTES:

This cake doesn’t need any frosting but you can make a simple glaze or heat a small amount of prepared chocolate frosting for 30 seconds then drizzle over the cooled cake. Garnish with reserved chocolate chips if desired.

Use regular or mini chocolate chips.

I suggest using your stand mixer with paddle attachment because this batter is THICK.

Mandy - looks delicious as always. Reminds me of an old simple "triple fudge cake" that my godmother used to make for us all the time when we were little. That one used a large package of chocolate pudding that you cooked according to box, then added chocolate (or fudge) boxed cake mix. Spread in greased/floured cake pan and top with bag of choc chips and chopped pecans. Bake as usual -- 350 until toothpick comes out clean. Simple and fabulous! Great for bake sales and church functions! Give it a try sometime! Penny (srmarymaid@aol.com)

Are the chips necessary for texture, or are they just added flavor? I'm intrigued by lemon option, but I'm not a fan of white chocolate, so if they can be omitted i'd definitely want to leave them out. If they are necessary, i'll just have to make do with one of the other fabulous options. 😉

I made the lemon cake last night and it was fabulous! I left it plain no frosting nor chips but served each slice topped with lemon curd and a dollop of whip cream. My party guests loved it! Thanks for the recipe.

Oh man, I don't care that it's going to be 100° today, I'm baking this cake! Thanks for the great recipe and all the possible variations. BTW, I DO care that it's going to be 100°...just not as it pertains to this chocolate cake. ;)

I made it. It's amazing. Five family members and everybody loved it. Including me, and I'm a little picky about desserts because I don't like a dessert to be "too sweet." Well, this is sweet, but the chocolate-y-ness makes it just fine. I didn't do any frosting, just put all of the mini-chips into the batter.

I'm sorry, but you don't list the size of cake mix or pudding. Cake mixes have changed in size within the past few years from 18 oz. to 15 oz. That's a pretty big difference when baking. Can you l kease advise?

I made this over the weekend and omg it was fabulous!!! Thanks for the recipe!!! I am not that great of a cook and would ask for the vanilla recipe, can you blend in some sort of fruit or filling and if so would you have to change any ingredient???

Love your recipes and your sense of humor!!! For Christmas I am going to treat myself toyour cookbooks. Are they available on Amazon? Also, I have been trying to print out therecipe for "Buffalo Feathers" but for some reason it won't print. Have any idea why?Please continue with your delicious recipes and your humor. Enjoy your site so much!'

Nana!! Thank you so much for letting me know about the Buffalo Feathers recipe! I fixed it and you should be able to print just fine now. Yes, the books are on Amazon - you can get there by going to the 'Cookbooks' tab on my site or you can just search on Amazon. Thank you also for your kind words :)

This is without a doubt the BEST Chocolate cake in the worldd. It beats "Portillos" and "Costcos" hands down. I have looked for this recipe for years. Made it for Christmas Eve, and was sorry I only had one cake, as my company kept coming back for more. For frosting I made a chocolate glaze. This will bee my forever chocolate cake recipe.

Hi there! While I'm not able to respond to every comment, I try hard to answer any questions that haven't been addressed in the post, recipe or in other comments. And though I may not respond to them all, I do read each and every comment and I LOVE to hear from you guys! Thanks, y'all! - Mandy